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Nephilim
Nephilim are an ancient and endangered race derived from both Angels and Demons by the Demon Lilith. History They fought against the Darkness with great ferocity, but the primitive Nephilim, flawed and corruptible, were finally exiled from the Light. Absalom, the first of the Nephilim crafted by Lilith upon whom the rest were based, led his kind on a world killing crusade beginning with the homeworld of the Ravaiim, who, under Death's advisement, were crafted into the Abominations, weapons the Nephilim used to annihilate many worlds. When the dust-formed Man was given Eden, the Nephilim were outraged. Believing Eden should have been theirs, they met the Archangels on the field of battle in an effort to claim it for themselves. However, four among them grew tired of the long, world-killing conquest of their kind. Believing that, ultimately, the Nephilim's rampage could irreparably damage the balance, they made a bargain with the Charred Council. In exchange for immense power, the four were charged with the destruction of their remaining kin. Thus the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse were formed, and they rode forth to slaughter their former brethren, culminating in the duel between Absalom and Death. Death defeated the first Nephilim, who then became Corruption. The souls of the defeated Nephilim were then trapped in an amulet carried by the eldest Horsemen. Although instructed to destroy the souls by the Council, Death entrusted the amulet to the Crowfather, who agreed to take the burden in exchange for its secrets. Eons later, when Death rode forth in search of a way to protect War from the Council's justice, he visited the Crowfather once more, only to find that the souls of the Nephilim had driven the Old One to madness. The Crowfather refused to help Death in his quest and attacked him using War's form. After his defeat at Death's hand, the amulet containing the souls of the Nephilim shattered and the shards embedded themselves in Death's chest, along with the souls themselves: a potent reminder of his betrayal. On his quest, Death learnt that to ressurect humanity, he would inevitably be forced to sacrifice the souls of the Nephilim. Alternatively, he could sacrifice the souls of humanity to revive the Nephilim as Lilith, who had promised Lucifer an army of the Nephilim, urged him to. Following his victory over the corrupted Absalom in the Well of Souls, Death ultimately chose to sacrifice himself and the souls of the Nephilim to erase War's crime, thus leaving the Horsemen as the only Nephilim in existence, with no real chance of the race ever returning. After the breaking of the Seventh Seal on Earth, the Horsemen were called, reviving both Death and War from their demises and restoring the Horsemen to their full number. Traits and Powers The physical traits and powers of the Nephilim are quite diverse when compared to other races of the universe, save for their common humanoid shape. This may be owed to their unnatural creation at the hands of Lilith. Though they all retain a humanoid structure, the appearance of the Nephilim can be wildly differentiated. Absalom, for example, possessed very demonic features, not to mention being much larger than the other known Nephilim, whereas War's silver hair and more human features might be due to the angelic influence in their creation. However, it is possible that Absalom's more monstrous features were a result of Corruption's influence, as flashbacks to the battle at Eden portray him with more human features. Other flashbacks, however, display Nephilim with more unusual features like wings and horns. All Nephilim possess incredible physical prowess. At least two of the Horsemen are known to have more powerful forms they can take on, but Absalom, the only named Nephilim not aligned with the Council, displayed no such ability. Determining what abilities come naturally to a Nephilim is further complicated by never seeing one portrayed without some sort of outside influence: The Horsemen gained power from the Charred Council and used abilities granted to them by other beings over the course of their journeys. Absalom, when encountered by Death, was utterly infested by Corruption and filled with its power. It is therefore impossible to truly measure the scope of the Nephilim's ability. According to both the Lord of Bones and Basileus, much of the Horsemen's power come from serving the Council and the Seven Seals. Thus they are only at full strength when fulfilling the Charred Council's wishes. Society Very little is known about how the Nephilim organized themselves, however it appears to have been simply structured oligarchy with a sole ruler holding the majority of the power along with a ruling class: The Firstborn - A group of the oldest Nephilim that appears to have served some authoritative role in their social military structure, though the extent of their power is unknown. Death is mentioned as being one of the Firstborn. It is unknown whether Absalom, the ultimate leader of the Nephilim, was considered a Firstborn or possessed a unique status all his own. Notable Nephilim Characters The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse The Four Horsemen are vastly powerful beings bound to the service of the Charred Council. The four Nephilim were granted their exceptional abilities in exchange for their oaths to serve the Council as enforcers of the Law and defenders of the Balance, their fist task being the slaughter of the rest of their kind. *War - The youngest Horseman and the main protagonist of the first Darksiders, he wields the sword Chaoseater. The Horsemen have the innate ability to transform into much more powerful forms for a short period of time. War's form is called "Chaos Form". *Strife - A Horseman wielding two pistols. One of them is a weapon wielded by War in Darksiders, named Mercy; the other appears in Darksiders II as a weapon for Death, named Redemption. *Fury - The only female horseman, she wields a fiery like whip along with a set of razor-sharp claws. *Death - Death is the eldest of the Horsemen and their leader. He wields the scythe Harvester, though he uses alternate weapons since Harvester cannot be utilized without the Council's permission. He is the main protagonist in Darksiders 2. Death's form is called "Reaper Form". Others *Absalom - The first of all Nephilim and leader of the race. He led the Nephilim across countless worlds, burning everything in their path until eventually they came to Eden. The Angels met his forces on the field of battle with the help of the Four Horsemen. Eventually Death defeated Absalom in single combat. Absalom then became Corruption, setting in motion events that would culminate eons later. In Darksiders 2, Absalom took on this role as Champion of Corruption and guarded the Well of Souls. When Death reached the Well, he defeated Absalom and killed him, ending his life and the threat of Corruption. Trivia * It should also be noted that there are two interpretations of the Four Horseman. The Biblical interpretation labels the horsemen Conquest, War, Famine and Death. The interpretation used most often in popular culture including the famous woodcut by Albrecht Dürer, consists of Pestilence, War, Famine, and Death. Other than War and Death, the other horsemen, in either interpretation, were cut and replaced with Fury and Strife. Although Fury has no close resemblance to her corresponding horseman Famine, Strife slightly resembles Conquest. Conquest is designated to depict internal conflict, similar to Strife. The word strife, however is more closely related to War. * Like most religious elements in Darksiders, a lot of creative license has been taken with the concept of the Nephilim, making Darksiders' interpretation of the Nephilim and Four Horsemen very different from the Biblical ones. Most notably; in the Bible, the Horsemen are mentioned as being the first four seals in addition to being separate from the Nephilim. The most popular as well as the major traditional view of Nephilim in religion is that they were the offspring of humans and angels, described as giants amongst men. * It should be noted that some conflicting canon exists in the darksiders universe. It has been said that the Nephilim are created from angels and demons yet other statements say the Nephilim are older than angels and demons. If the first statement is true then their mother is Lilith. If the latter is true then the Nephilim race are one of the first beings created by the Creator and probably as old as the universe itself second only to the Makers. Although Lilith's statement of "mingling the dust of Angels and Demons" could be seen as accurate since men are also considered to be created from dust but Demons were only created after the fall of Lucifer's host and further Abaddon has been stated to be older than nephilim and Lilith herself was a demon (most probably never human as nephilim are eons older than humans). * At the end of Darksiders 2 the souls of the Nephilim were sacrificed to resurrect Humanity. The amulet containing their souls was embedded in Death's chest, who was also sacrificed. The end of the game reveals that Death was resurrected, but whether the amulet containing the Nephilim was brought back with him, though unlikely, is currently unknown. If it was, there is a chance that the race may be resurrected in later games. * The term Firstborn has only been used in the novel Darksiders: The Abomination Vault, and has not appeared directly in the games, though as all but one of the Firstborn are dead, there is little reason for it to be used. Gallery Darksiders War Paints by SplashColors.jpg|War atop Ruin. Image:Fury_comic.png|Fury Image:Death colored.jpg|Death Image:Strife colored.jpg|Strife Image:the four horsemen by windlordofsuldor.jpg|The four remaining Nephilim, by artist Windlordofsuldor, appropriating Joe Mad's style. Darksiders008.jpg|A comic page. Strife Fury Death War.png|Strife, Fury, Death, and War The Horsemen slaughter their kin from creation.png|The Four Horsemen slaughter their kin from creation Death Amulet Shards.png|The shards of amulet holding the souls of the Nephilim, embedded in Death's chest. External links *Nephilim on Wikipedia. *The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse on Wikipedia. *http://www.apocalipsis.org/fourhorsemen.htm Description of the Four Horsemen along with a discussion on what they may represent. Category:Lore Category:Nephilim